Old Zuider Zee Ringed With History

August 04, 1985|By Jay Clarke, Knight-Ridder Newspapers.

ENKHUIZEN, HOLLAND — Great sailing ships used to crowd the harbors along the shores of the Zuider Zee. Hundreds of smaller fishing smacks crisscrossed the fabled sea, and behind the dikes, the industrious Dutch built neat towns keyed to a seafaring economy.

It was a golden age for this part of Holland, an age that ended abruptly in 1932 when, for a greater good, the Zuider Zee ceased to exist.

It was in that year that an 18-mile-long dike was completed, closing off the Zuider Zee forever from the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. In just a few years, the salt water sea from which armadas and great explorers had sailed in bygone days was transformed into a fresh water lake. Once-plentiful herring disappeared, as did the anchovies, and with them disappeared the livelihoods of thousands of fishermen.

A way of life disappeared, too, as old ports and harbors lost their importance. But in their place, Holland gained something more important--new land. Thousands and thousands of acres of rich land have been reclaimed as the Dutch have pumped out the water in impounded areas of the old Zuider Zee--land to farm, land to build on, land to let a crowded country expand.

A visit today along the shores of the former Zuider Zee--now a lake called the Ijsselmeer--gives you a glimpse into Holland`s storied past, and at the same time, a look at the new Holland rising in its place. You can make a circular drive from Amsterdam around the old Zuider Zee in a day if you push it, but you`ll see more and enjoy it more if you take more time.

Perhaps the best place to see the old Holland is here at Enkhuizen, a port that once rivaled Amsterdam and now is the site of the Zuider Zee Museum, a 14-acre spread of more than 100 restored homes and business buildings, nearly all of them original structures. Here, life as it was in the heyday of the Zuider Zee has been lovingly re-created.

Old ways of life come alive again here as modern-day artisans work in the shops of yesteryear. You can see a broommaker at work, or a cigarmaker, dressmaker or sailmaker. A working windmill pumps water from the canals, just as larger mills did in earlier days (and as electric pumps do today). An old steam laundry still huffs and puffs, a candy store sells old-time goodies and a bakery offers breads.

To get a full understanding of the village, it is best to time your visit to coincide with the free guided tours, at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. There also is an indoor museum called the Binnenmuseum, where at least one example of every type of wooden ship that sailed on the Zuider Zee is shown. These include an ice boat, used when the sea froze over in the hard winters; a

``snikke`` boat, a long and narrow vessel used to transport potatoes on inland waterways; and the ``botter,`` the typical old fishing craft.

The town of Enkhuizen itself is worth a tour. The 230-foot-high Zuiderkerk church dominates this once-important port, where 40,000 once worked. (Only 15,000 live there now.) Down by the harbor, the few fishermen who remain work on their boats and their nets; today, they scour the Ijsselmeer for freshwater eels instead of herring and anchovies. There, too, is the old Drommedaris Tower, from which sentinels kept watch on the sea.

On the way to Enkhuizen, about an hour`s drive north of Amsterdam, several historically interesting towns are on Ijsselmeer`s shore.

Volendam has long been a popular destination, along with the charming island town of Marken offshore. Both are touristy, but the old buildings are colorful and authentic.

Volendam has several streets lined with well-kept old homes, and the harbor--where you board the frequent tour boats to Marken--bustles with people and souvenir shops. You also can reach Marken by causeway from Monnickendam, but you must park your car and cross a bridge to reach the island, as cars are not permitted there.

Just a mile or two north of Volendam is another pretty seaside town, Edam, famous for its town hall and its cheese. The Edam rounds are weighed at the Kaaswaag before being shipped abroad. Several factories offer tours. Hoorn, a scenic port, has a market once a week during which dancers in period costume perform on an outdoor stage.

The new Holland, built on what was once the bottom of the Zuider Zee, is best seen on the eastern shore. Driving over the Markerwaard dike from Enkhuizen, you will come to Flevoland, a huge chunk of reclaimed land that already has farms, expressways and two new cities. Chief of these is Lelystad, a totally planned city founded less than 20 years ago that today serves as a model for others to come on Holland`s reclaimed land. Named for the originator of the Zuider Zee flood control/land reclamation project, Cornelius Lely, it now has 50,000 residents.

Tourists interested in how this gigantic project has been achieved should visit the New Land Information Center outside Lelystad. Here, an extensive museum tells the story of how the dikes were built, the land drained and the new land allotted.

Control of the Zuider Zee and reclamation of land within it, you will learn, is an idea that has been around as long as Holland has been fighting the sea, a period that spans many centuries.

Lely, an engineer, presented his Zuider Zee plan in 1891, but it was not until the 1920s that it was implemented--impelled, in part, by a disastrous flood in 1916.

Meanwhile, if you are heading north, you can drive over the structure that led to all the changes, the 18-mile-long Alsluitdijk, the dike that closed off the Zuider Zee in 1932.

An observation platform lies on the dike about five miles from the southern shore. Looking at the open sea on one side and the freshwater Ijsselmeer on the other, you cannot help but admire the ingenuity and perspicacity of the people who created it, and in doing so changed the course of history of their country.